Structured Data Chapter 11

Combining Data Into Structures Structure: C++ construct that allows multiple variables to be grouped together Format: struct { Type1 field1; Type2 field2;... };

Example struct Declaration struct Student { int studentID; string name; short yearInSchool; float gpa; }; structure tag structure members

struct Declaration Notes Must have ; after closing } struct names commonly begin with uppercase letter Multiple fields of same type can be in comma-separated list: string name, address;

Defining Variables struct declaration does not allocate memory or create variables To define variables, use structure tag as type name: Student stu1; studentID name yearInSchool gpa stu1

Accessing Structure Members Use the dot (.) operator to refer to members of struct variables: cin >> stu1.studentID; getline(cin, stu1.name); stu1.gpa = 3.75; Member variables can be used in any manner appropriate for their data type

Displaying a struct Variable To display the contents of a struct variable, must display each field separately, using the dot operator: cout << stu1; // won’t work cout << stu1.studentID << endl; cout << stu1.name << endl; cout << stu1.yearInSchool; cout << " " << stu1.gpa;

Comparing struct Variables Cannot compare struct variables directly: if (stu1 == stu2) // won’t work Instead, must compare on a field basis: if (stu1.studentID == stu2.studentID)...

Initializing A Structure struct variable can be initialized when defined: Student stu2 = (11465, "Joan", 2, 3.75); Can also be initialized member-by- member after definition: stu2.name = "Joan"; stu2.gpa = 3.75;

More On Initializing A Structure May initialize only some members: Student stu3 = (14579); Cannot skip over members: Student stu4 = (1234, "John",, 2.83); // illegal Cannot initialize in the structure declaration, since this does not allocate memory

Arrays Of Structures Structures can be defined in arrays Can be used in place of parallel arrays Student stuList[20]; Individual structures accessible using subscript notation Fields within structures accessible using dot notation: cout << stuList[5].studentID;

Nested Structures A structure can contain another structure as a member: struct PersonInfo { string name, address, city; }; struct Student {int studentID; PersonInfo pData; short yearInSchool; float gpa; };

Members Of Nested Structures Use the dot operator multiple times to refer to fields of nested structures: Student stu5; stu5.pData.name = "Joanne"; stu5.pData.city = "Tulsa";

Structures As Function Arguments May pass members of struct variables to functions: computeGPA(stu1.gpa); May pass entire struct variables to functions: showData(stu5); Can use reference parameter if function needs to modify contents of structure variable

Structures As Function Arguments - Notes Using value parameter for structure can slow down a program, waste space Using a reference parameter will speed up program, but function may change data in structure Using a const reference parameter allows read-only access to reference parameter, does not waste space, speed

Returning A Structure From A Function Function can return a struct : Student getStuData(); // prototype stu1 = getStuData(); // call Function must define a local structure –for internal use –for use with return statement

Returning A Structure From A Function - Example Student getStuData() { Student tmpStu; cin >> tmpStu.studentID; getline(cin, tmpStu.pData.name); getline(cin, tmpStu.pData.address); getline(cin, tmpStu.pData.city); cin >> tmpStu.yearInSchool; cin >> tmpStu.gpa; return tmpStu; }

Pointers To Structures A structure variable has an address Pointers to structures are variables that can hold the address of a structure: Student *stuPtr; Can use & operator to assign address: stuPtr = & stu1; Structure pointer can be a function parameter

Accessing Structure Members Via Pointer Variables Must use () to dereference pointer variable, not field within structure: cout << (*stuPtr).studentID; Can use structure pointer operator to eliminate () and use clearer notation: cout studentID;

When To Use., When To Use ->, And When To Use * Consider the following: struct Xmpl { int *intPtr; }; Xmpl xmpl1, *xmplPtr = &xmpl1; *xmpl1.intPtr accesses the value pointed at by intPtr *xmplPtr->intPtr does the same thing